Slightly Mad Studios, the developers of the Project Cars series have seen massive growth since crowdfunding their original racing title almost 10 years ago. Since then, the team has been constantly growing the franchise into one that has a dedicated player base.The original Project Cars was first released in 2015 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and it was designed to give gamers a true alternative to both Forza and Gran Turismo franchises. Featuring 74 officially licensed cars and 23 racetracks from around the world, the game was released to popular acclaim from both players and critics. A sequel quickly followed in 2017 and improved in almost every area, but now Slightly Mad Studios have confirmed both games are set to be delisted from digital storefronts.According to a statement posted on the game’s official Twitter page, both games will be delisted due to licensing agreements of the various cars and tracks coming to an end. The developers, who form part of EA Codemasters, confirmed that Project Cars 2 will be the first to be delisted on September 21. The original title will follow suit a few weeks later when it is removed on October 3.
Slightly Mad reiterated that both games will still be supported, and online races will continue to run, so gamers who have downloaded the titles prior to the delisting dates, or those who own the disc-based versions, can still play them as the developers originally intended. It is also worth noting that this news doesn’t impact 2020’s entry, which is to be expected as the final DLC for Project Cars 3 was released last year.
Delisting digital games are sadly becoming more common, and EA isn’t the only one choosing to remove popular games. Ubisoft will be delisting older Assassin’s Creed games in September. Although, unlike Project Cars, Ubisoft will be removing access to games, regardless of if players have purchased them or not.
It is not currently known what the future holds for the Project Cars franchise. Rumors of a next-gen upgrade of the third game seem to have fizzled out since the title was not as well received as the previous two entries. Late in 2020, the then Slightly Mad Studios CEO Ian Bell took to Twitter saying that the team wanted Project Cars 4 to be the most realistic racing game ever made. However, since the studio has been brought under the EA umbrella, the team’s next project has been kept tightly under wraps.
Project Cars 3 is out now on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
